Arrow of Time
by Homer4242
Summary: Kelsey Hayes and Matt Davis are forced to move to Alaya, Alaska with their hipster foster family. While there, Kelsey awakes the interest of a Yaksha prince, the White Tiger, and his Fairy Court, they believe she is his lost mortal love.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oh man it's been a million years since I've ACTUALLY attempted at fanfiction… (And if I Update this fic relatively well, I'll return to Sapphire!)

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own any part of the "Tiger's Curse" series, that problem is Colleen Houck's.

And a personal disclaimer, I've only read as much as dear Nella has shown us Chez Ap. followers, so I will likely get everything canonically wrong here...

This story, the keep in tie with the theme of not-understanding-anything from the books, I did not research Alaska at all (or at least attempted not to); and the plot is all about the End and arise of the Golden Age in Hinduism. (Plus fairies, because I will it.) I'll try to put as much corn in Kadam's dialog as I can muster, but no promises!

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><p><em>The concept of <span>entropy<span> (the increase in disorder over time) can be expected to provide a direction of time. A movement into the future can be recognized by observing deterioration and decay of things in the past. __— World of Physics_

Kelsey Hayes watches snowflakes whirl passed the rental car, as the vehicle drones steadily down an industrial road. All around, mounds of new-snow bloom across the stretch of hilly landscape. Kelsey hadn't taken her gaze away from the growing scene, not since getting into the rental at the airport. And even on her flight, she had looked out the window beside her airplane seat; watching as earth thousands of miles under her shifted from an urban coast to the bleakness of the Alaskan frontier.

She sighs and the window glass stains with her breath. Finally she looks away.

Matt Davis, her foster brother, has been nearly as silent as Kelsey, staring out his own window, lost in his own thoughts. Their foster parents—who somehow convinced the California CPS' to move two teenagers with them to Alaska, of all places—continue to talk eagerly with each other; about the awaiting tourist destinations, social events, and(, more importantly,) they talk about their new cabin. Their perfect, dream home cabin; snug in the cold Alaskan woods, overlooking the small body of water called Sir Laka, where the neighborhood residents are free to do their fishing and rock-skipping.

Sarah and Mike had tried to engage Kelsey and Matt in the beginning of their trip, but Matt would shrug them off with a disheartened comment, and Kelsey would barely respond. She still couldn't believe she was leaving her home of twelve years.

Kelsey couldn't say that she hates the idea of Alaska. She's sort of an introvert, so the idea of being secluded doesn't bother her. The cold, however, makes her weary; living in the warm California sunshine most of her life has shied her away from subzero temperatures. _Isn't there that phenomenon where the sun doesn't show for months?_ she shudders at the thought.

Matt had expressed his own opinions about Alaska to Kelsey back when they thought their trip would just be a vacation, before Sarah and Mike found their perfect cabin.

"There's a guy in my class who'd just come from there," he'd told her on their walk from school back in March (it was now September). "He says it's always freezing, and dull, and with hardly any people!"

Matt is more of an extrovert than Kelsey, always trying to make friends with anyone who comes his way. He frets that living in a town with a population below 200 will be his end.

"Hey, sleepy-heads," Mike calls; he smiles at them via the rearview mirror. "We're almost in our new town. Alaya, Alaska: Home of the Tigers," he recites the town's high school hockey campaign.

Matt groans and presses his face against the window. "Tigers aren't even native to Alaska," he complains.

Sarah shares a look with Mike. From Kelsey's point of view, sitting just behind Sarah's shotgun, her foster mother looks almost worried.

"It's okay, hun," Mike comforts his wife. He turns his attention back to the back seat. "I guess they were just trying to be creative, Matty."

Matt rolls his eyes.

"_Hey, hey,_ Kels-_ey_," Mike singsongs. "You've been real quiet this whole way. You doin' alright back there?"

"I'm alright," Kelsey says. Mike looks at her—turning his head to really see her—and she gives him a small smile.

Mike looks back to the road. "Any of you thinking of joining a team for school?"

"Oh, I don't know," Matt says sardonically, "what will they offer? Uhm, _dog sledding_?"

Sarah frowns at him. "Matt, please."

The rest of the way down the industrial road is silent. Kelsey continues to look out the window. Snow builds all along the side of the triple-lane highway; but avoids landing on the asphalt, which had been covered in salt crystals the night before. The sky is slowly overcome by the precipitation-full clouds, and the distant sun tries to bleed its waning light through the thick darkness.

By the beginnings of sunset, they make it to the little town of Alaya, Alaska. The first snows of winter, now reflecting the orange of the burning sunset colors, blanket the tops of the buildings and the alleys in between. The buildings are either covered in wood paneling or made by thick plaster-like material. The only signs of 21st century living are the McDonalds on Browsheld Rd. and the updated movie theater at the corner of Main St. Surprisingly, Kelsey and Matt spot an open Blockbuster Video, probably the only one in all of America. Kelsey sees a foreign shop nestled between a 70's style drug store and a camping-supply-specialty shop. The foreign shop's windows are clouded, but beaming with bright lights placed around shelves and other surfaces. She doesn't have time to make out the odd words of the shop's title, as Mike turns the corner quickly, anxious to get to their cabin, but that only mystifies the place in Kelsey's mind even more. She notices that her eyes linger on the direction of the building, as if she can't look away.

But when Mike breaks suddenly, her attention is brought back to reality. She sees that Mike's eyes and mouth are wide open, and Sarah has instinctively shielded her arm in front of him. Matt is leaning forward in his seat, trying to get a better picture of outside the windshield.

"A deer!" Matt says excitedly, "A white deer! How cool is that!?"

"Thank God we didn't run over the poor thing," Sarah says, clutching her chest.

Kelsey rolls down her frosted window to get a better view of the dark woods beside her. A chill runs up her arms and back, starting goosebumps all over, but she wonders if it's from the cold gust of wind she let in or the growing unease.

As Mike drives away, Kelsey swears she sees glowing blue orbs watching her, like eyes of a mystic creature.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun had set completely by the time Kelsey and her foster family pull into the gravel driveway of their cabin, and darkness is what greets them.

Kelsey is almost afraid to step outside; after seeing those chatoyant orbs, her unease of the woods had grown throughout the drive. She kept telling herself that the orbs were only figments of her imagination—_I'm just seeing things because I'm tired_—or an explainable occurrence—_It was just the headlights reflecting off something, something normal_—but she couldn't shake the growing unease she still feels all over her senses.

Kelsey takes a deep breath before she opens the car door and steps out into the night.

Matt and Sarah are standing near the cabin's garage, using the flashlights on their cell phones to see in the darkness. Matt's arms cling around the puffy North Face jacket he bought at the L.A. Airport, and Sarah's arms cling around Matt's shoulders. Kelsey had forgotten her jacket, and for a moment the biting wind against her bare arms nips away at her unsettling nerves. She hurries over to Matt and Sarah, and Sarah quickly moves her arms around Kelsey.

"Mike is inside," Sarah tells her. "He's going to open the garage for us."

Kelsey frowns. "Why don't we just go in the front door?"

"That's what I said!" Matt huffs.

Sarah shakes her head. "He doesn't want too much snow getting into the house," she says.

Kelsey looks over Sarah's embrace, into the black void where the woods would be shown under the sunlight. The unease triumphs over the cold, and she shivers. _Why is this happening? Why am I freaking out so bad?_ Kelsey shakes her head, making snowflakes fly out of her hair and fall back into the wind, and she turns away from Sarah. Kelsey hugs herself tightly and leans against the sharp metal of the garage door.

The three of them wait silently for Mike. Only minutes tick by, but Kelsey feels like it's hours of her standing there, bare in the cold, covered in the blackness that is Sir Laka's woods. She counts her breaths. She closes her eyes. But all she can think about—what she sees behind her lids—are those orbs. Those freakish orbs.

_They couldn't have been real, they couldn't have been real._ She shivers again, and again not from the cold. _They weren't, they weren't. Stop. Stop!_

She jumps when the garage door lifts behind her.

"Come on, guys, quickly!" Mike motions at them from inside. "I'll pull the car up," he tells Sarah, "and we'll collect our stuff."

"The movers?" Sarah asks, her voice shaking from the cold and her own worry. "What about the movers?"

Mike rubs her arms, "They'll be here tomorrow; they got caught up in the storm, they're waiting it out at the truck stop an Exit over. It'll be okay, Sarah," he smiles, "we can last until morning."

Kelsey stops herself from thinking about…_them_.

Matt and Sarah take their jackets off and hang them on the built-in coat rack in the mud room. They all take off their shoes and lay them beside Mike's tattered hiking boots.

Sarah and Matt wait in the garage for Mike to pull up the rental car full of their carry-on belongings. Kelsey wanders off to explore the first-floor of the cabin.

The narrow mud room opens to a decent-sized kitchen. It's a miss-match of 70s cabinets, countertops, hardwood, and the more modern appliances: a gas-stove, a large double-door fridge, and a dishwasher. The only appliances that aren't stainless steel are the washer and dryer, tucked away in the adjacent laundry room.

The walls of the laundry room keep the original 70's wood paneling, but Ikea cabinets had been carelessly hammered into the wood, making them cracked. The walls of the kitchen are painted a bright yellow, which fades into the lighter cream-color of the dining room.

The dining room is carpeted, and that trend lasts for most of the cabin's rooms. Kelsey sees why Mike didn't want them ruining the carpet with snow-covered shoes and clothes: the white carpet is old, stiff under her feet, and has stains from water-damage already. With no furniture in the rooms, the damage sticks out like a sore thumb.

Kelsey is in the living room when she hears the commotion of her foster family tumbling into the kitchen with their arms full of suitcases and bags.

"Kelsey!" Mike calls into the house. "Your stuff is still in the car! Please get it!"

"'Kay," Kelsey answers. She moves through the boxes of rooms and back into the garage. The garage door is closed, _Thank God_, so Kelsey doesn't have to feel so exposed by being alone in, so close to the night that's started to frighten her.

A small trail of snow was brought into the garage by the car's chained tires. Frost and snow cover the sides of the rental car; the solid waters drip and make puddles on the concrete ground. Kelsey tries to avoid stepping where any wetness would be; she shies around the rental to her side of the car, walking on the balls of her socked feet. She uses only the tips of her fingers to lift the door handle, which is covered in frost. Icky, icky frost. She jumps back when a patch of snow falls when she opens the door.

Kelsey's school bag is right where she left it, at the bottom of her seat. She stretches over the snow on the floor and climbs into the backseat; she scoots over on the seats to get into a better position to reach downwards. She doesn't see the blue straps of her bag sticking out from underneath, but she's knows it's there. Kelsey reaches under the seat. The space feels like it goes deeper into the car than it did before, and empty of a bag, but she keeps reaching. She keeps reaching. Keeps reaching…

Panic sets in. Kelsey reaches desperately under the seat, further and further into the emptiness; like she can't help herself, or control herself. Her breathing quickens and fills the space with her hot breath. The door must have closed at some point. The carlight begins to fade; slowly, steadily suffocating her into the darkness. The back windshield drips with thick runnings of ice, moving quickly down the glass and clearing her view, revealing the windows of the garage door. Kelsey sees into night sky, completely pitch-black.

Black, except two things: two orbs.

Two mystic eyes.

Kelsey screams and pulls back sharply. She bumps her head on the car door. She feels a sharp pain—not from her head, but her arm. She looks down, and her arm is dark; she touches it, and feels a sticky wetness. She winces.

"Kelsey, Kelsey!" Sarah opens the door. Kelsey falls back and Sarah holds her. "Oh my God," she cries when she sees the blood on her hand, the blood running down Kelsey's arm. "Oh my God…"

Mike and Matt rush in.

"Kelsey! Sarah, what happened?" Mike asks.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Sarah cries. Mike tells Matt to get the First-Aid kit, and Sarah turns her attention back to the girl in her arms. "Kelsey, dear, what happened," she chokes up. "Why did you hurt yourself?"

Kelsey tries to speak, but her voice cracks. _It wasn't me_, she shouts in her head. _It was those orbs! They followed me!_ She swallows. She shakes.

Kelsey wishes she could be gone; gone from this State, this storm, these woods; she wants to be home, in sweet, sunny California. She wants to escape those blue orbs. _But somehow, I feel like I never would._

Her muscles contract and shiver, and her breathing quickens again. She slumps against Sarah. She feels something cold and biting being wiped against her wound. She passes out.

...

Bright, natural light is what wakes Kesley up. She sighs. Some part of her feels relief; she must have subconsciously been worried that the sun really would not rise again to greet her.

Kelsey sits up on her bed. It's unmade, just a mattress with no sheets. Her grandmother's quilt is draped over her, with all its worn, pastel designs of an Indian jungle. Her grandmother was British, and lived in India with her family during the colonial period. She never went back after moving to America, but she never forgot her time there. Kelsey remembers her grandmother telling her stories from her childhood, and Indian fairy tales, like the one about the tiger melting like butter.

There's a knock at the bedroom door. "Kelsey?"

"Come in, Matt," Kelsey says. "I'm decent."

Matt walks in, his dark-red hair burning in the sunlight, his blue eyes burning like ice. _Like…_ Kelsey looks away.

"Are you alright?" he asks. He sits down beside her on the bed.

"I'm fine." Kelsey smiles. "Back in the car… I was… I was reaching for my bag and…" she shakes her head. "I must have scraped my arm on some metalwork."

"Next time don't leave your stuff under seats," Matt advises. He smiles; a bright, dimpled smile that got all the girls at home to swoon. "Hey, Mike went to the local grocery this morning and make some fresh-out-of-the-tree maple syrup pancakes. I saved you a plate."

Kelsey brightens at the prospect of some homemade food. "Thanks, Matt," she grins. "I'll get dressed now, I guess."

Matt leaves, shutting the door behind him. Kelsey stands in the empty room. With only her and her grandmother's quilt, the bed and her school bag to fill its space, its bright walls are blinding in the early morning.

She unzips her school bag and takes out her change of clothes: a yellow sweater and another pair of jeans. She pulls out a hair ribbon from the bag's front-pocket, a blue ribbon with a faint pattern. She wears it like a headband, the bow tied at the top of her head. Kelsey puts on some fair eyeshadow and blush before she heads downstairs.

She moves steadily down the steps near the end of the staircase, maneuvering around moving boxes. "So the movers came by?"

"Just before noon," Sarah answers. She looks at the bandage swathed across Kelsey's bicep. "Are you feeling alright, dear?"

Kelsey nods.

Mike walks in from the dining room, where presumably more boxes are, hidden from Kelsey's view. "The furniture will be arriving before dinner. There's a festival going on downtown tonight, gives us a perfect opportunity to get out of the house for a few hours."

_And away from the woods,_ Kelsey thinks. She smiles.

"Can't wait to meet our neighbors," she says politely.

"Oh yeah, all old people by the way," Matt walks in, arms carrying a pile of his clothes, his laptop balanced on top. Kelsey moves off the staircase to give him room for going up the crowded steps.

"Matt. Please." Sarah says sternly.

"I'm going into the kitchen for some food," Kelsey tells her foster parents. They both smile at her. _Like I'm the Good Kid,_ Kelsey snickers in her head.

"Matt saved you some pancakes from this morning," Mike says.

Kelsey walks into the kitchen and sees that the coffee machine and microwave have already been unpacked. She goes to the double-door fridge and takes out the plate of pancakes, the only plate of anything in the fridge.

She heats the pancakes in the microwave. Kelsey enjoys watching the plate turn round and round, with the smell of a sweet breakfast seeping out. Food is her favorite, and Mike's homemade food is delicious, even if it _is_ always vegan.

Kelsey eats with a plastic fork because, apparently, no one found the forks with the other silverware. After she finishes eating, Sarah tells her to change her bandage, handing her the First-Aid kit. Kelsey goes to the half-bath downstairs, shuts the door, and removes her sweater.

She peels the reddened bandage from its hold on her bicep, and sees her wound for the first time. It's deep, a clean line across her middle arm, and it's red. Very red. It acts like a fresh wound, still sensitive, as if it the skin had just torn, and some blood starts to trickle out.

The wound on her skin reminds… Not of last night, but when she was still young. Before she had met Sarah and Mike.

She looks away and turns her attention to the task of dressing her wound. She wipes the wound with rubbing alcohol—and realises that the alcohol was the biting on her wound she felt before she went out cold—and some sort of anti-bacterial lather Sarah told her to use. Both of the medicines sting and make her wince at every wipe. She wraps a new bandage gently, then puts her yellow sweater back on.

Kelsey spends the rest of the day helping her foster family unpack what they can put away, so mostly utensils and clothes. The moving boxes are placed all around the house—Mike's strategy being to bring the boxes room-by-room to unpack—until they're finally left in the garage, waiting for the furniture to arrive. Kelsey can't help with much, because her arm wound is unusually sensitive to picking up anything over 15 lbs.

"We should take her to the hospital," Kelsey overhears Sarah saying to Mike. "I'm worried about that wound. She scratched it on a rental's seat-bottom, who knows what sort of infection could be causing all this bleeding."

Kelsey thinks about the orbs; the creature's eyes. She freezes. _Could they have infected me? Caused me this agony?_ From what she's seen of those reality TV ghost hunting shows, it scares her to think what something so malevolent could do to her. She shakes her head. _It's not a ghost. Ghosts aren't real._ She swallows her own doubt about that statement.

"We can see a doctor another time this week," Mike says. "Let's just enjoy this evening and get adjusted to our new home before we do anything like that."

"But..."

"Honey, she'll be fine. She's a strong girl. You've seen what she can get through. A little scratch? That's nothing to her."

Leave it to Mike to boost her ego, even if he's not talking directly to her.

Matt walks into the dining room then. Kelsey noticed that, the further the sun passes overhead, the more peeved he's looked.

"You excited about tonight?" Kelsey teases. She laughs at his groaning. "It won't be all that bad, Matty," she says. "Even if Sir Laka is all old people, it's not like Alaya is a total retirement community."

"Oh, you have _no _idea, sister," Matt deadpans. "1 out of 3 people here are old. My own calculations."

"Are those scientifically sound?"

"1… out… of… 3," he emphasises, as if that works as an answer. "I'm pretty sure tonight's festival is just one big BINGO party."

"I like BINGO," Kelsey smiles.

Matt widens his eyes in show. "You're one of them! An imposter!" he laughs. "Where is the real Kelsey, _Imposter_?"

He reaches for her, and she jumps up laughing, "No, no, please!"

"Get out of here, you old-fart!" He chases her around the boxes of rooms, and they run around the boxes in those bigger boxes, laughing like children. In the living room, he catches up to her. He manages to hook her in his arms and—against her protests—starts tickling her sides.

She laughs hard at each tickle, with tears forming in her eyes. "Ohmygosh, _please_ stop it," she huffs out, "You're so immature!"

She kicks him off of her. Matt hunkers over in laughter, and she takes this opportunity to tickle him back, at his most ticklish spots: his neck and armpits.

"Kids," Mike shows up in the archway of the living room. He frowns goodnaturedly at their childish playing. "We'll be leaving for the festival at 5 o'clock."

Matt brushes Kelsey off. "I'll get you next time, evil old person," he says dramatically as they walk out of the room. Kelsey laughs.

Akin to Matt, her good mood is gone by 5 o'clock. Gone with the setting sun under the darkening sky.

She lies in her bedroom to wait until she's called to leave. She wastes her time playing a game of Bejeweled on her phone, trying to distract her attention from the lurking shadows.

All of what she'd felt last night comes back to her in waves, to the point where she can't hold her phone in her shaking hands.

Kelsey jumps from the bed and paces her room. The darkness crawls over in shadows of the barren trees. Her breathing quickens. The shadows draw closer. _Don't let it touch you_, she finds herself thinking. She should find this thought insane. But she doesn't. She takes heed to her mind's warning: she backs away from the growing claws of tree-branch shadow, until her back is against her bedroom door.

She fumbles with the door handle, but it jerks back as if stuck on something. Kelsey feels cold sweat, the beating of her heart; she feels the rapid jerk of the door handle. Her frustration grows, almost bringing her to tears. _Why is this door not working? Why am I afraid of shadows? What the Hell is going on with me?_

_Cabin fever_, she answers. _I have some sick-as-fuck cabin fever._

The door swings open before the reaching shadows can enclose her. She rushes out of her darkening room, and she bumps into someone. She jumps back.

"Ah, Kelsey," Mike greets. "We'll be going as soon as Sarah is done getting ready."

Kelsey nodds.

She looks back at her room. No shadows. No trees. No fear.

They both head down the stairs, Mike in front and Kelsey trailing behind. Matt is sitting on the kitchen counter when they enter.

"Off," Mike commands.

"But there's no where to sit," Matt protests.

"And that will change tonight when the furniture comes in." Mike crosses his arms. "_Off_."

Matt rolls his eyes, but jumps down. "I basically haven't sat down all day," he continues to complain. "Just give me this?"

"No," Mike scrunches his face, "No one wants your tush where we'll be making food."

"I'm ready," Sarah singsongs her way between Mike and Kelsey. She's wearing her best mineral makeup, and her finest green turtle-neck and dark skinny jeans. Her silver necklace and matching earrings dangle in sway of her movements. Kelsey thinks she looks lovely—and sees that Mike thinks so too: his eyes are shining, and he's smiling that way people smile when they're in love. Kelsey likes to see that smile. At home, she kept a picture of people smiling like that, framed and standing by her bedside table.

"Let's get our coats and get to the party!" Sarah cheers.

Kelsey's coat—which had been left in her school bag—is hung on the coat rack along with everyone elses', and she joins her foster family in the crowded, narrow mud room, where everyone trips and stumbles over each other to get their wintertime gear.

The garage is dark—until Mike flips the switch. Their rental is where Mike drove it in, closer to the garage door than their mud-room-entrance. Kelsey is weary stepping into the garage, but Sarah holds her arm to steady her to her seat. The blood had been cleaned up.

Mike pulls out of the gravel driveway and onto the asphalt street of Sir Laka's main drive. The lake is cold against the setting sun, as are the woods surrounding them. Kelsey sinks in her seat. She already hates the cabin. She hopes that downtown Alaya will be better.


	3. Chapter 3

**UPDATE:** Cover art is _Winter on the Way_ by Selene (selenada) on deviantART

A/N: I'm so happy people are getting invested into my little winter tale! I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter! I know it took forever to Update… Hey! It took me a long time because PARTY PLANNING IS NOT MY THING… Yes, writing festival scenes counts as party planning.

I decided to split this into two Chapters, since this hiatus has gone on very long and the second part isn't really on the festival grounds anyway. Actually, the festival might be three parts, since I do want Kelsey to meet the Bros this night.

Oh! (I forgot to mention this last Update!) Happy Halloween!

And Thanksgiving, if I don't get around to it :P

**Disclaimer:** Please remember that I haven't read any of the Tiger's Curse series, so everyone is OOC and without their Canonical background. (Case-and-point: Li…) Sorry! All I've bothered to research about them is what's in the Wiki!

And I'm sure the narrative tenses will fluctuate from past- to present- in this Chapter (and I'm too lazy right now to fix any of it, but I will later).

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><p>Like the evening before, snow covered the roofs and alleyways of each building with burnt-orange snow. But the town was now decorated with dangling lights, like Christmas lights, hanging in rows above Main St.. Homemade scarecrows and Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins line the sidewalks; their presence charming the dated downtown scene. People wear layers of their best fall-colored clothes. They stroll easily along the festival decor, as if they don't notice the cold and the falling snow around them.<p>

Mike parks the rental car in the Alaya high school parking lot at the edge of downtown. Together, they walk to the shopping center on Main St., lumbering under huge winter coats. A banner spelling "Home of the Tigers" is proudly displayed to them as they turn out of the school campus. Kelsey tries not to look at the blue eyes of the snarling, white tiger mascot painted on the banner paper.

The fall festival is held in the adjacent park of downtown, planted just off Main St.. Kelsey and her foster family follow the crowd of people down a snowy alleyway and into the open park.

Children run through the square, chasing each other in a game. Young couples jump to dance music played by a disk-jockey. There are tents hosting craft events and selling homemade knick-knacks, and a few crowds gather around. Most people stand around the scattered bar tables, enjoying good food and good company. Food truck line against the back walls of downtown shops, smoking and emitting waves of warmth and smells.

Matt scans the food truck alley. "Do they have any Bar-B-Q, you think?"

Mike and Sarah skrunch their faces.

"I'd smelled the roasting, simmering _flesh_ of pig the moment we—"

"Matt! Please!" Sarah gawks. Kelsey and Matt snicker.

Mike takes a twenty-dollar-bill from his wallet, and hands the bill to Kelsey. "Here, get yourselves some meat, you vulgar ruffians."

The foster siblings walk away from the Neilsons and walk up one side of the food truck alley, the side farther from the band's station, where most of the smoke is drifting from. They walk passed pork and regular Bar-B-Q truck, heading towards a truck that's longer than the others, and had been pushed to the backway of the alley. The truck has a fat, pink pig painted on its metal side, and a rustic sign spelling "Jayson's Big Pig Oinkin' BBQ" screwed in.

Matt—being originally from the Southern states—knows good pork Bar-B-Q by one sniff. And Jayson's Big Pig Oinkin' BBQ apparently meets his standards.

Matt eagerly pulls into the short line, and Kelsey trails behind him.

"Hey ya'll!" A boy about their age cheers to them from the order-window. "Willin' to try somethin' new," he winks at Kelsey. Kelsey leans closer to her foster-brother. Even though the boy seems nice enough, she really doesn't want people—_anyone_—checking her out; especially in context with her recent situation.

Matt skims over the Jayson's Big Pig Oinkin' BBQ menu, a folded-chalkboard set outside, with pho-chalk print plastered onto the boards. He looks back at the boy in the window and—is the wind stinging his cheeks... or is he blushing?

"Were're ya'll from?" the boys asks them, casually making conversation (a Southern habit Kelsey had to experience when they visited Matt's hometown last summer).

"L.A.," Matt answers. Then he shakes his head. "Well, _I'm_ really from Albany. Georgia. But… Anyway, we both came from L.A.."

"You're cousins?"

Matt shakes his head again. "No. We're actually foster siblings."

"Then I won't ask any more about it," the boy says, and Kelsey is thankful for that. In Matt's hometown, Albany, people would ask them the "why"s and "how"s of their orphanhood- conversations neither of them want to have with strangers.

"So, where're you from, uh...?" Matt asks the boy back.

"Licotto, but friends call me Li," he answers. "I was originally from Louisiana. Not New Orleans. Shreveport."

Kelsey tries to place the name, but she can't. _Shreve...port? Is it a port town?_

Li goes on: "My dad wanted to _escape the crowd_. He flipped our old RV into a food-service truck, once we got the house. We've been here for seven years," he says. "Oh- and, uh- I need to take your order."

Matt orders something called a "pork-cheesey", and Kelsey goes for the regular Bar-B-Q sandwich. Before Kelsey had time to order herself a classic Coca-Cola, Matt excitedly points out a cherry soda called Cheerwine; a drink, he says, that is only sold in the Southeast; and he persuades Kelsey to try a can. He doesn't need to plead for her decision. She won't deny him a shared experience..

The boy hands them their meals. Heat from the pork rises in waves like fog; delicious steam against the cold air. Kelsey can feel the warmth even through the paper tray and the cloth of her gloves, as she carries her order along with Matt, down to the center of the park, where most of the bar tables are set. They choose a table beneath a tall coniferous tree, which is barren and its branches coated by frost.

The pork is probably the most delicious Kelsey has tasted. She's surprised with each bite how it can be tender, stringy, and firm at once. And the sour-sweet sauce adds a perfect tang to the texture. Matt says it's okay, as he digs into his dish of pork and mac-n-cheese, but he's had better, apparently. The Cheerwine is sweet and bubbly, but not in a _kiddy_ way. It's crisp and refreshing, even in the cold whether. Matt is happy Kelsey enjoys it.

It doesn't take long for Mike and Sarah to find them. They rush over with their veggie dishes: bowls full of curry sauces, mixed garden greens, and white rice. Kelsey notices the smell, but won't admit it's good.

"There are craft tables at the back," Sarah says. "They're making sand bottles and these adorable little straw-dolls. Do you want to try and make a few?"

Matt guffaws. Then, "No," he deadpans.

Kelsey eyes Matt, warning him to keep himself in check. "We're fine, Sarah," Kelsey tells her.

"Oh, but we'll be here long," Sarah urges. "I don't want you to be standing around eating all night!"

"We'll walk around downtown when we get bored," Kelsey says.

"Which will be in about…" Matt checks an invisible watch "... Three seconds, minimum."

"Matt, please, it's not that bad," Sarah rolls her eyes.

"Oh, by the way, that dog-sledding joke I made yesterday? It's real. It's happening. They're having _junior tryouts_ at 7:30." He takes a swig of his Cheerwine. "How did I end up here?"

"Maybe you should tryout, Matty." Kelsey teases, "Since _junior_ is the only team you _can_ join." She laughs out loud at the death-glare he sends.

Onstage—the stage set between two of the biggest buildings in the square—a local band takes over the disk jockey's shift. The band's members are all male, from what Kelsey can tell from her distance. The lead singer is… well, _tall, dark, and handsome_.

His rocker attire matches the "dark" description perfectly: black boots, dark skinny jeans, a grey sweater, and a black-leather, spiked jacket. But his skin is also dark, a deep tan color. He has long black hair, and bangs that vine over his face, that covers his almost-almond-shaped eyes.—_Maybe cashew. Apricot?_ Kelsey doesn't know nuts.—But what's striking about his eyes…

She catches her breath. _No,_ she thinks, _No, I must be seeing things._

They aren't blue like the chatoyant orbs. But they're golden. A fierce golden color that pierces her with heat.

And their gaze catches hers.

_I have to get out of here._

"You know," she rushes out, "I'm actually interested in the dog-sledding… thing. Matt? Want to go hang out? It's out of the park, right?"

She doesn't wait for him to answer. "Let's go."

As they walk out of the park, the band begins to play. A steady bass that leads into an easy, smokey guitar. Drums follow. And then a voice..

A voice that nearly stops Kelsey in her tracks. It's impossible, she knows, but… She feels like she knows that voice. Not a recognition, but a deep-seated _knowledge_ she somehow has—somehow has always had—of that voice.

She pulls Matt along with her faster down the alley, that enters out into the snowed road, where the dog-mushing tryouts would begin.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Biggest chapter yet! Probably because I went a little overboard with it…

I'll be honest I have no idea where this fic is going anymore.

**Disclaimer:** (i just want you to know that tyler hoechlin is coach wes)

* * *

><p>It was a while before 7:30 would strike, and Kelsey and Matt huddled on the frozen, metal bleachers that were set against the brick of an old building. The road before them was nearly blanketed with snow; icy tracks left from some recent mushing practices shimmered in the waning light. Kids who were probably middle school grade gathered around the road, talking with their parents and trainers. There were no dogs outside yet, but Kelsey and Matt could hear the barking inside the brick building behind them.<p>

"Why did you drag me out here?" Matt huffs.

Kelsey doesn't answer him; she can't think of any answer to give, even if it would be a lie.

"It's really weird. You're thing with people," he says. "And you have to drag me along. I don't want to sit on these ass-cold bleachers all night, watching pubescents chase dogs around cones. What's the fun in that?"

"I hear ya'," a familiar voice says.

Kelsey and Matt turn their heads, looking behind them, and Li is walking to the bleachers from the alleyway. He steps up the bleachers like they were stairs, and sits in the bench just before the foster siblings, facing their way. A leather jacket draped over his uniform; a friendly smile on his lips.

"I never asked," Li says, looking a little shy, "but, what're your names?"

Matt smiles. "I'm Matt."

"Matt. Alright." Li smiles back.

The two boys seem to get caught up in their own little moment, staring at each other and smiling. Kelsey breaks the silence with a cough. "Hello," she says. "Kelsey, here!"

Li greets her introduction,"Hey, Kelsey!"

Matt blushes and tries not to look at either of them.

"So… Li..." Kelsey tries at conversation. "Why aren't you… at work?"

"I'm here for my little bro. It's his first tryout! I'm support… and, I guess I've been his personal trainer."

"You _dogsled_." Matt looks a little disappointed, and Kelsey smirks at his dismay.

"I did for a while," Li chuckles. "I was never good at it. I'm pretty sure coach Wes wanted to kick me off the team," he laughs. "I could never do turns—anysort of steering. And I was a bad French student to begin with, so I could barely control the dogs. Since they use French words to train them, you know.

"But hey! It was an experience. It's not like you can mush down South, right?"

"Right."

"My brother, though, _is_ good. Coach Wes is real thankful for that."

"Which guy's your brother?" Kelsey asks.

Li points out a lanky kid in a wooly sweater, pulling an aerodynamic sled. The kid looks like Li: the black hair, dark and slanted eyes; but he has little moles on his cheeks, like freckles. He's alone pulling his sled towards the Start Line, while the other kids his age have their parents or trainers helping them out.

Kelsey frowns. "Can't you help him with the sled?" she asks.

"He's stubborn," Li shrugs. "Won't take help from nobody. It's okay; we all were at that age."

Kelsey watches the kid try and drag the sled through the sludgy snow. "Are you sure he doesn't need help? It looks like he's struggling with that."

"Yeah he needs help, but he won't let me do anything. I told you: he's too stubborn."

_So is someone else_, Kelsey thinks saltily. She huffs out in frustration. "I think you should just help out," she suggests toughly, but still as politely as she can. Li is a stranger, and restrictions apply.

"Well," Li crosses his arms, "why don't _you_ help out then?"

"Sounds like a plan," Matt agrees. "I'm sure the little tyke'll allow help from the pretty girl who offers."

Kelsey rolls her eyes. _At least I'm pretty to a tween. And my gay foster brother._

She walks down the aisle of the bleachers. Her boots hit the hard, frosted ground- frostier than when she and Matt had been there ten minutes ago. _The temperature must be dropping_, she thinks. She wraps her arms around herself and treks towards the road, heading for Li's brother.

She tries to smile in a reassuring way when she meets up with him. "Hi! Are you Li's brother?"

"Yeah," he answers. His round, moley face blushes and he looks back down at the sled. He starts fumbling around with the ropes around the metal sled's handles.

But then he raises his grey eyes to Kelsey again. "Do you need something?"

"Well…" Kelsey stops. It's not like she wants to ruin his ego; to tell him out front that she thinks he's struggling with moving the sled around, and he needs some help from a _girl_- pretty or not, that suggestion is sure to hit his man-identity hard.

"... I, uh… am new here. I'm from L.A., so I don't know anything about this… sport." She looks back at Matt and Li, who are watching them intesely.

"I wanted to ask Li about it, but… He's told me he isn't the best source," she refers. "But he said you're really good, and so I thought you might tell me about some stuff."

Li's brother shrugs. "I can," he agrees. "I'm best with handling the dogs, though. You should talk to Jayson's son if you want lessons on steering or whatnot."

"No, no!" Kelsey rushes. "I'm…" She thinks quickly: "You know what, I _really_ love _dogs_!" And she feigns gushing: "Oh! I want you to teach me about how those… cute little… creatures… do things!"

Her act must have fooled Li's brother, because he blushes again. "Y-Yeah," he meeks out. Then he clears his throat. "But before the dogs come out, I have to move the sled over to the Line."

Kelsey signs in relief. "Let me help you," she offers.

Together they move the sled, Kelsey pushing and Li's brother pulling. It's difficult to maneuver the sled in a straight line, because the terrain is so malleable; the sled slips on ice and gets caught up in snow. Kelsey thought moving a sled around would be easier. _Aren't these things made for this?_

Finally they reach the Start Line, where most of the tryout contestants are already waiting, with their sled-dogs in toe.

Li's brother leaves to get his own team of dogs, that had been provided to him by the league. Kelsey waves him goodbye, and when he walks away, she slumps onto the bed of the sled.

"Kelsey!" Matt appears in her sights. "You haven't worked out like that in years, I bet," he laughs.

Kelsey groans. "Was that your master plan, Matty? To make me _work out_?"

He smiles his winning smile. "Eh," he shrugs. "Maybe."

Li shows up behind Matt. "I probably should have helped," he says, a small frown on his brow.

"Yeah, you think?" Kelsey retorts.

Matt gives her a look. "Kels, don't be so harsh."

She quirks her eyebrow at him.

And suddenly there's dogs licking her face. Kelsey cries out in shock and disgust, and jumps off the sled. Huskies are sniffing at her and jumping at her. She waves her arms at them, "Shoo! Shoo!" she yells. She spins around and Li's brother is standing there in his wool sweater; encumbering a network of harnesses in his arms; a surprised look on his round face. She gasps.

"I mean," she smiles quickly, and reaches down and pats the head of a dog. "Oh, how cute…"

"At least _they_ like you," Li's brother deadpans.

Matt and Li laugh.

A sharp sound pierces the air, and Kelsey sees a man pacing the Start Line, a silver whistle in his mouth. She guesses the man is coach Wes, who Li mentioned.

"Alright," the man says; a kinder voice than Kelsey expected. "Only if you complete this course here will you become a Junior Tiger. No exceptions. You lose, then you lose. The Junior Tigers is a serious team, and we treat all mushers to the same extent as we would our high school varsity.

"The first goal is for all contestants to put their team together—without help from anyone else! This is part of being on the league; you'll have to take care of your own dogs on every course, so it's best to see now rather than later that you can handle it.

"Get your dogs ready. The tryout begins in 15 minutes."

Kelsey and Matt leave the road and sit back on the bleachers. Li stays behind a little longer to talk with his brother.

"I feel like this is intense," Matt says after they sit back down.

Kelsey laughs. "Well, it is _the_ Alaskan sport. It's like their pride, I guess."

"Their own football," Matt ponders. "Paw-ball."

"That doesn't even make sense," Kelsey laughs.

Li shows up and takes his seat. "Great news, guys," he says. "They're bringing the tiger out."

"You have a _tiger_? And you're spending the evening _sledding dogs_!?"

"Matt of course they don't have a tiger, calm down," Kelsey rolls her eyes.

"It's the Alaya school mascot," Li says, quirking an eyebrow at Matt.

Matt shifts in his seat. Kelsey and Li continue to eye him.

"Oh my _God_!" he breaks. "Could you _please_ quit it with the judgy looks!"

Kelsey and Li laugh at him.

They sit together a while longer on the cold bleachers, watching Li's brother set his given team of sled dogs in rows, tying their harnesses, and slipping booties on their paws—somthing Li says protects their paw plush from ice shards. Li watches anxiously as his brother works with the dogs, as do the parents and trainers who sit around them. Coach Wes takes note of each step the contestants make, watching them with a critical eye. Kelsey feels tension rise all around her with the cold.

"Let's go inside," Kelsey whispers to Matt; she points with her thumb at the brick behind their backs. She remembers seeing some of the parents and trainers moving in and out of the store, and it looked warm and comfortable from her view.

Matt glances at the back of Li's head, and agrees when he figures the other boy is too invested in whatever's going on with the dogs.

They walk down the bleachers, waving at Li as they part. The brick of the building is a rusty-red, worn by time, and the entrance door is a industrial blue. Frost crystallizes against the glass of the windows, but Kelsey can see the glass from the inside is fogging and melting the frost away. She quickly opens the door, and enters a homely, cabin-y interior: wood carved furniture with plush cushions, paintings of Alaskan flora and fauna against the same brick walls, warm-colored rugs against dark wood; there's a fireplace near the entrance, with a block of lumber burning; and towards the back, there's a kitchen area, with steam rising from an automatic-kettle.

It's coach Wes who's standing behind the kettle. "Hello," he greets Kelsey and Matt, who still stand slightly-awkwardly beside the door.

"This is the Cabin," he explains without them needing to ask. "Everyone is welcome inside. Especially friends of Li."

Kelsey and Matt sit down on the large couch by the kitchen counter, where coach Wes can clearly see them.

Matt shrugs. "I thought you didn't like Li?"

Coach Wes laughs. "He wasn't my best musher, _true_, but that doesn't mean I hate the kid. The opposite, actually. He brought a lot of life back into the team."

The kettle beeps, and coach Wes pours the hot water into his Thermos. Kelsey can smell some sort of exotic tea flavor. _Soma? Cardamom?_ she guesses the spices. Coach Wes offers to make them some, but Kelsey and Matt politely decline.

"Coach," Matt says. "No offence, but… You seem awfully young."

Coach Wes smiles, "No offence taken." He leans against the counter. Kelsey feels like he has this comfortable and humbling aura, despite his intimidating appearance: dark, wiry hair; 12 o'clock shadow across his square jaw; and large muscles that flex with his movements.

"I took this job when my father retired rather recently. He was the high school coach. So now _I'm_ the high school coach." He takes a sip of his exotic tea. "If you have gym on your schedules, you'll be seeing me," he smiles.

"Hey!" greets a giant white tiger with a feminine voice. Matt jumps.

The tiger takes off her snowy head, revealing a beautiful girl wearing the mascot costume. The girl is around their age, like Li. Her smile is beaming and sweet, and her long brown locks fall around her shoulders. And she's Indian—like, _from India_ Indian.

Noticing her is when Kelsey remembers that there are a lot of other Indian people in this remote Alaskan town. "_Alaya has recently been a technology boom-town,_" Mike had said on their car ride. "_There's a lot of Indian people here, because of the job opportunities."_

But the mascot girl speaks clear English. From what Kelsey can tell, she doesn't have an accented dialect; not even one like Li's or Matt's.

"Nilima!" coach Wes greets, smiling almost as brightly as she does. "How does the costume fit?"

"Like a glove," Nilima says relieved. "That senior must have been very lean if I can be as comfortable as I am."

She looks at Kelsey and Matt sitting like stones on the coach. She smiles warmly again, and it melts them. "And who are these two?" she asks coach Wes.

"Friends of Li's," the coach answers.

"I'm Matt, and this is my foster-sister, Kelsey. We moved here from L.A.."

"Welcome to Alaya," Nilima greets them. Then she rolls her big, brown—almost hazel—eyes and chants, "Home of the Tigers!"

"So they say," Matt suddenly stresses. Everyone looks at him in surprise. "But no tiger species is native to Alaska!"

Kelsey hides her head in her gloves. _Why is he so embarrassing?_

"There's actually a story behind Alaya's chosen mascot," Nilima says. "The mascot is chosen from a fable. A tale of two brothers, who were cursed to live as beasts…" she looks at Kelsey then, and Kelsey can't say she wasn't disturbed "...because their jealousy had caused the death of the woman they both claimed to love."

Matt thinks this over briefly. "A Shakespearean tragedy… Or an old Western. Either way, not really appropriate for a dogsled team, huh?"

"Well I didn't chose it," Nilima frowns. Kelsey feels the frown isn't directed at Matt, but something else… someone else.

"Anyway," Nilima transitions. "Coach and I have to get out there and officially start the race. Be seein' you!"

Nilima slips her mascot head back on, gives Kelsey and Matt a fuzzy thumbs-up, and heads out of the Cabin with coach Wes walking behind. Before he leaves, the coach looks back at Kelsey and Matt and says "Wait here for a while. I think I have a job for you."

When the door shuts, Matt groans. "How. _How_ did we get a job? Why is it that when I actually apply and interview for something, I don't get it; but when I stumble across something, BAM, automatic employee!"

Kelsey rolls her eyes. "I doubt it's an _employee_ sort of job," she says.

She gets up from the couch and moves into the kitchen. She sees the box of coach Wes' exotic tea, and feels tempted to try it. _I probably should have asked when he offered… But that's always such a hassle._

Kelsey opens and closes the 70s-retro cabinets before she finds a bag of Styrofoam cups, and she makes herself a small portion of the exotic tea. Like coach Wes, she offers to make Matt a cup, but he declines as he did before.

The tea is warm—not just from the heat of the water, but from the spices themselves; they tingle on her tongue and burn her senses. _Advieh, baharat, kalpasi, coriander_—she tastes what she doesn't recognize; she had never known those names before she tasted them; she's not even sure if she's tasting what's real.

There's burning in the back of her throat, and the sensation rises up her sinuses. It's almost like a scratching, the way it feels. She swooshes the liquid in her mouth, and a taste of iron has mingled with the spices.

Suddenly pain hits her stomach and she pushes herself forward against the kitchen sink. She spits the tea out of her mouth, noticing that it's changed into a red hue. She gasps. She reaches her parted lips, but they feel dry; she breathes in, but tastes no blood.

Kelsey decides she's fed up.

She crushes her cup and watches the rest of the tea pour down the drain. She throws the remnants of the cup against the sink's porcelain bowl. She spits on the the remnants and curses them. She feels strong arms on her shoulders, and she winces away from their touch.

"Matt…" she blanks at his concerned look.

"That… Must have been some pretty bad tea, huh," he suggests. She nods.

Coach Wes comes back into the Cabin then, his face pink from the cold, and Li follows suite. Matt walks towards them, while Kelsey stays in the kitchen, her eyes drifting to the empty sink. _Empty… _She tries to reach down and touch where the stains once were, but she's cut off from the moment when Matt calls her name.

"Alright," coach Wes says, "I just postponed the race for a few minutes. It's getting very cold out there, and the kids will be out for almost 20 minutes, so I don't want to take chances. Hypothermia, frostbite—Heaven forbid anything that serious happens, but as a precaution I want you three to be out there along with some of the trainer's that have volunteered, to spot."

"'Spot'?" Kelsey frowns in confusion. "What does that mean? What would we be doing?"

"Just looking out for warning signs. Make sure everyone's okay. Think you two can handle that?"

Matt and Kelsey look at each other, and Matt's deepening concern doesn't go unnoticed by her. She frowns at him, in defiance. "Sure thing," she says. "I can handle it."

As they say: "Easier said than done." Kelsey huffs to herself. Her breath is painted by the frozen wind, and she shivers for the millionth time since coming to Alaska.

She hates it.

Even though coach Wes was kind enough to offer everyone Thermos for each of his volunteers, the hot drink inside isn't enough to keep Kelsey comfortable. She stands frozen by a treeline, searching for the sights and sounds of dogs and sleds against snow.

Nilima stands beside her.—She is Kelsey's "buddy", as coach Wes had directed for a "buddy system" to be put in place for the volunteers. (Matt was "buddied" with Li, to Kelsey's amusement.)—And the other girl stands patiently, as if the cold cannot affect her, and Kelsey envies her resistance.

"How can you stand this cold?" Kelsey finally asks.

Nilima looks at her startled. These are the first words Kelsey has spoken in long minutes. Kelsey has a twinge of embarrassment, _That was pretty random… I'm so weird. She'll just have to ignore me completely now_.

But then Nilima laughs goodnaturedly, and Kelsey sighs in relief.

"I've been here a long time," Nilima smiles radiantly. "You get used to it after a while."

_So she isn't from here_, Kelsey observes. _I wonder if she_… Kelsey hesitates.

Nilima seems to read her thoughts. "Yes, I _am_ from India directly."

"Oh," Kelsey meeks out, her face flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, I… You don't have an accent—" she spares Nilima the trouble by shutting herself up.

Nilima chuckles, "No, I wouldn't," she says. "We had to move a long time ago."

"Oh… Job-related?"

Nilima doesn't reply, looking off in the distance with a frown. Kelsey mentally hits herself for being rude. _Stupid stupid stupid..._

A while later, from the distance comes the sound of paws against snow. Kelsey and Nilima quickly get into their spotting positions. Kelsey stays on their waiting side, direct from the trees behind her and the snowed sled road in front. Nilima waits on the other side of the sled path, a little further on from Kelsey. They nod to each other and wait for the sledders.

In the lead is a boy with a green terrain jacket, with twelve white Siberian huskies powering him forward. Other racers pull through steadily. Kelsey eyes each of them, checking for the signs coach Wes told her: bright red skin, a lack of energy; limping paws, uneven harnesses. She doesn't find anything. Five more racers pass her, and everything seems fine.

Except that she doesn't see Li's brother.

The wind around her tightens its winter embrace and she gasps. The wind pulls her hair, her locks pointing back down the sled road, and she sees the cluster of trees that begin the Alaskan wilderness. _He can't be_… She tries to keep calm; she tries to level her breathing. She waits out three more racers, and then two more, four more. He isn't in sight.

When the road is free she rushes to the other side and runs to Nilima, and the other girl meets her halfway. "I haven't seen Li's brother!" Kelsey calls out.

"Hunter?" Nilima looks back at the road as another racer passes by. _Not him._

Kelsey swallows the knots in her stomach. "What do we do?"

Nilima seems to sense Kelsey's stress and she holds her gloved hand in hers. Kelsey flushes at the contact—she isn't used to strangers touching her—but Nilima's hand is calming and grounding. "It's okay, Kelsey," she says softly, "I'm sure Hunter is just behind."

"But Li told me he was good at this! He said coach Wes was proud of him… He's like a protégé, right? He shouldn't be behind. What if something happened?"

"Kelsey calm down."

She pulls her hand from Nilima's. _Something doesn't seem right_. She looks back at the wilderness beyond her, and somehow she's sure he's there. "He's lost in the woods," Kelsey says. "I think."

Nilima frowns at her, more in curiosity than anything else. For a second, Kelsey thinks she sees recognition in her hazel eyes.

"If you think someone is missing then we should tell coach Wes."

"I have to find him." She can hardly believe herself; she's never been assertive before, let alone _brave_. It's almost like her words are being controlled by a dream. "I'm going to look for him."

She turns to leave, but Nilima grabs her arm before she can. "You can't go out there, Kelsey."

_You can. You have strength._ Kelsey tries to shake those words away from her mind—but she doesn't deny them. She knows she has to find Hunter. Something tells her this is her responsibility.

She yanks her arm out of Nilima's grasp and, without another word, she runs off into the woods.


End file.
